This letter is in response to Tom O'Keefe's letter posted on Aug. 30, "Glassboro change mostly positive" (redevelopment with many unanswered questions?).

It is easy to sit back as was alluded to in the article and be a Monday morning quarterback, be apathetic and let other people spend our tax dollars and not question how the money is spent. But the rest of us live in the real world and have to live within our means and be fiscally responsible with our money. The average citizen cannot float bonds and pass the bills along to
the taxpayers.

I also moved to Glassboro for the same reason as Mr. O'Keefe, because it is a very nice place to live and known as a small university town. As a concerned taxpayer, I question what our local government is spending on this Rowan redevelopment project and giving away in tax abatements to get this yet to be proven nirvana as referenced in the letter and wonder how we
are going to pay for it? Are we getting the best return on investment for the dollars spent on economic development, just spending money in the name of economic development and question why we would give tax abatement to people involved with this project when our town clearly needs the tax revenue?

The point missed in the letter to the editor wasn't about people whining and crying about redevelopment in Glassboro – but about getting people to question why our taxes have gone up 37 percent from 2001 to 2008. Also not mentioned is the quality of life issue created in the existing neighborhood by building an 800 student housing complex on Route 322 – an already very congested road and the associated problems of code enforcement and intoxication.

Over the past year only two people, Tracie Sperratore and Adam Szyman, have questioned our mayor and council members regarding the redevelopment plan, its cost, related parking issues and its true cost to Glassboro taxpayers. A majority of the answers they received were ambiguous and vague.

Coincidentally these two individuals are running as candidates for Glassboro Council this November.

Speaking for myself, I do not want higher taxes and believe there is a silent majority who feel the same way. I believe we can get straight answers on the cloak of mystery surrounding the spending on the Rowan Redevelopment Project and shed light on how our tax dollars are spent with the election of two new faces, Tracie Sperratore and Adam Szyfman to the Glassboro Council.